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Related Concept Videos

Polygenic Traits01:18

Polygenic Traits

When more than one gene is responsible for a given phenotype, the trait is considered polygenic. Human height is a polygenic trait. Studies have uncovered hundreds of loci that influence height, and there are believed to be many more. Due to the high number of genes involved, as well as environmental and nutritional factors, height varies significantly within a given population. The distribution of height forms a bell-shaped curve, with relatively few individuals in the population at the...
Polygenic Traits01:18

Polygenic Traits

When more than one gene is responsible for a given phenotype, the trait is considered polygenic. Human height is a polygenic trait. Studies have uncovered hundreds of loci that influence height, and there are believed to be many more. Due to the high number of genes involved, as well as environmental and nutritional factors, height varies significantly within a given population. The distribution of height forms a bell-shaped curve, with relatively few individuals in the population at the...
Nature and Nurture01:10

Nature and Nurture

Many human characteristics, like height, are shaped by both nature—in other words, by our genes—and by nurture, or our environment. For example, chronic stress during childhood inhibits the production of growth hormones and consequently reduces bone growth and height. Scientists estimate that 70-90% of variation in height is due to genetic differences among individuals, and 10-30% of variation in height is due to differences in the environments that individuals experience, such as differences...
Heritability01:06

Heritability

Heritability is a statistical concept that measures the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to trait variations within a population. It is a fundamental idea in genetics, often prone to misinterpretation. Heritability is expressed as a percentage, reflecting the proportion of variation in a specific trait across a population that can be linked to genetic differences. However, it's important to understand that heritability does not determine how "genetic" a trait is,...
Human Genetics01:28

Human Genetics

Human genetics provides a profound framework for understanding the interplay between genetic predispositions and human psychology. At the heart of this discipline lies the study of how genes influence physical traits, behaviors, and susceptibility to diseases. Each person carries a unique genetic code that subtly or significantly shapes their psychological and behavioral landscape.
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation02:32

Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation

In the field of psychology, there are several ways to organize measurements of a trait, feature, or characteristic (i.e., variables). Qualitative data, such as ethnicity, can be tabulated into a frequency count to provide information about the proportion, as well as the variety of groups in a sample or population. On the other hand, researchers can perform a wider set of calculations on quantitative data. The mean, mode, and median, for instance, are central tendency measures to identify a...

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Related Experiment Video

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Midface Hypoplasia and Cranial Base Morphology in Syndromic Craniosynostosis: A Comparative Analysis Study Using a Predictive Regression Model
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Midface Hypoplasia and Cranial Base Morphology in Syndromic Craniosynostosis: A Comparative Analysis Study Using a Predictive Regression Model

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Predicting human height by Victorian and genomic methods.

Yurii S Aulchenko1, Maksim V Struchalin, Nadezhda M Belonogova

  • 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. i.aoultchenko@erasmusmc.nl

European Journal of Human Genetics : EJHG
|February 19, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Sir Francis Galton's mid-parental height prediction method remains superior to genomic profiling for predicting human height, especially when parental data is available. Genomic methods may offer an alternative for less heritable traits or when parental data is inaccessible.

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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Midface Hypoplasia and Cranial Base Morphology in Syndromic Craniosynostosis: A Comparative Analysis Study Using a Predictive Regression Model
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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Human genetics
  • Quantitative trait genetics
  • Statistical genomics

Background:

  • Sir Francis Galton's 1886 work established mid-parental height as a predictor of offspring stature.
  • Recent advances have identified 54 genetic loci associated with human height, offering potential for genomic prediction.
  • The predictive power of genomic profiles versus traditional methods for height has been a subject of ongoing research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of Galton's mid-parental height method with a 54-loci genomic profile for human height.
  • To determine the genomic variance required to achieve specific levels of discriminative accuracy (Area Under the Curve - AUC).
  • To evaluate the utility of both methods across different trait heritabilities and data availability scenarios.

Main Methods:

  • A population-based study (n=5748) assessed the variance explained and discriminative accuracy of a 54-loci genomic profile for height.
  • A family-based study (n=550) compared the Galtonian mid-parental prediction method with the genomic profile using parental height data.
  • Exploratory analysis quantified the genomic variance needed to reach target AUC values.

Main Results:

  • The 54-loci genomic profile explained only 4-6% of height variance in the population-based study, with limited discriminative ability (AUC).
  • The Galtonian mid-parental method explained 40% of height variance in the family-based study, demonstrating high discriminative accuracy.
  • The study established a relationship between genomic variance explained and AUC for height prediction.

Conclusions:

  • For highly heritable traits like height, where parental phenotypic data is available (e.g., in medicine), Galton's mid-parental method offers superior discriminative accuracy and cost-effectiveness.
  • Genomic prediction methods may serve as a viable alternative for less heritable traits or in forensic applications where parental information is unavailable, provided key genetic variants are identified.
  • The study underscores the enduring relevance of classical statistical methods in genetics when phenotypic data is accessible.